Thursday, December 22, 2011

Here are the pictures of our street at night. I took these on a couple of different nights so if some look like they have more lights in them than others it is because they keep adding stuff!

First house on the street - across from the mailboxes. (I've been taking the camera when we walk to the mailbox at night) Can't quite get all the street in one shot with my camera - maybe I should have walked farther down but with the curve in the street it probably still wouldn't have worked. Who knows?

Anyway - now we are back on our side of the street looking back towards our house. (actually, I must have been standing in front of our house when I took this one)

The next three are the same house - it's hard to get it all in with just one.I think he adds something every day.

They play music too!

To the left of us

and to the right.

And this is us. We are kinda boring compared to the rest of the block! We gave away most of our outdoor stuff when we moved - this yard is much smaller and we weren't sure what we could use, plus we already had three storage units full while waiting to move in. Don't you think we need that picket fence across the front?

On the front porch. Guess I didn't take a picture of the vintage shopping cart full of ornaments - you can just see the corner of it. I think I'll add some lights in in next year. You can see the dining room trees in the porch pictures too.

Santa will greet you at the front door. Also failed to get a picture of the wreath on the front door. It might get some lights next year too.

Since we always come in through the garage door, I thought it needed a little something too!

Timothy made it here last night and Brian will be here later today. Hubby is off tomorrow until Tuesday so we are going to be enjoying some family time. (and missing baby boy and his bride!) I'm not sure if I'll get another post in before Christmas so I want to thank those of you who visit (and comment!) on a regular basis - and those who just stop by on occasion, and if this is your first visit - welcome!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I've always loved picket fences. Had one planned at the last house but we never got to it before we moved. :(

The houses on this street are calling for picket fences - but whoever wrote the deed restrictions apparently didn't see their charm and they aren't allowed. :(

Last night, hubby and I were driving around looking at Christmas lights and look what we found

Houses with picket fences!

Aren't they yummy? So, this is a circle and all the houses had these fences in front and they were all lit up - the center of the circle (grassy area) was even all decorated and had a little train riding around it. Anyway - several people were outside chatting with people as they drove by so I asked if they always had the fences up or if they just used them for Christmas. The lady said they only use them for Christmas - would probably get a letter if they left them up. Well, my head goes to spinning! I might not get to have a fence all year, but I'm totally putting this on the list for next year - at least I could get one for a month! Gotta measure and see how many sections it would take and watch for it to be on sale! Surely we can find space to store a few fence sections in the garage! I'm thinking we might have to go back for another look-see and more pictures! There was a bit of traffic - this neighborhood was shown on the news a few weeks back and we had already made several trips around the circle. :)

We just drove around that area (one we had never been to before) looking for streets that were pretty well lit up. This house had something in every window.

Santa was front and center!

Then we saw this HUGE magnolia tree all lit up. I'm not sure you can tell (maybe if you click and enlarge) but there is a two-story house behind it and the tree is twice as tall as the house! Lights all the way to the top of the tree. Awesome.

Timothy will be here this evening. I've got Chicken Tortilla Soup in the crock pot so dinner will be ready and waiting. I put sausage balls in the freezer (our traditional Christmas breakfast!) this afternoon too. I'm slowly making progress! (although I still have 1000+ feeds to get through!)

Monday, December 19, 2011

I'm finishing up the 2011 Christmas tour inside the house. I still have some outside pictures to post later, but I'm going to attempt to link to a party or two and I'm not sure when some of them close so I thought I better get on the ball.

In the last post I showed the dining room but the lights (on the trees) weren't on so here is a pic with those on.

Now we can move on to the laundry room.It is small, but I added a few touches - a Santa

Some ornaments in a bowl (love milk glass bowls!)

A little wooden tree and a 'Believe' sign.

Not a lot in the master bedroomA little wreath on a mirror

My little wire tree

and a little light on the nightstand.

Wanna see the kitchen?this little cabinet has some of my gingerbread 'stuffs' on it.

Oops - pictures got out of order - this is the breakfast room, looking back towards the stairs.

This is what I see standing at my kitchen sink

My little 'sweet tree'

Back to the breakfast room

the 'snowman' table. I used to have a snowman tree (at the old house) but I haven't used those ornaments since we moved here, this year I put some of them in my glass jars. (I have some close-ups - I may post those later)

The 'window' table

On the coffee table I just stuck some picks in my dough bowl with my glass door knobs.

And the main tree. It is a mix of all the ornaments we have collected over the years both store-bought and home-made. We are just simple folk. :) Love all the 'fancy, themed trees' you see all over but for me, this is my favorite!

Friday, December 16, 2011

It is a slow process, but I'm getting there. (and I've just marked some things off 'cause there is just no way it is all getting done) I won't bore you with all the things that have been keeping me from getting things done around here, but I've missed three whole days this week. We are going to finish this tour before Christmas though, so let's move downstairs.

Mr. Snowman will greet you when you come in the front door.

Looking straight in from the front door.

A few touches mixed in with my Blue Willow dishes.

Looking back into the dining room. I would have turned the tree lights on for ya, but that would have meant crawling around on the floor - how about I just get one later. :) I keep having to fix the 'tree skirts' (felt) Seems they are attractive to doggies. Not sure if they have been napping there are just moving them around looking to see what is under them.

These trees are in the two front facing windows.

Doesn't everything look special when you put it under glass?

(almost everything in this room is pretty much like it was last year except the placemats on the table)

Looking back into the entry. I'm loving the stockings hanging here! I added a little basket to the bench to hold Christmas cards. I finally mailed my cards - no letter this year. I've been writing a 'newsletter' for Christmas cards since 1995 but it was one of those things that just got marked off as not happening this year. I should have taken a close up of the little gingerbread boy and girl - maybe I'll get that when I get the lighted tree shots. I've had them for years but they are still cute!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Is it just me or is everyone falling behind? I never post this late in the day but I missed yesterday all together and the next couple of days are going to be so busy! I thought I would show you the rest of the upstairs decked out for Christmas tonight.

I can't really say 'ready' for Christmas because this is all you will see of my sewing room. I picked up this little tree (it is only 12" tall) after Christmas last year. You can't really tell in the picture but it reflects the colors that are around it so it looks pretty pink in here! That is all the Christmas decor I have in this room, unless you want to count the piles of boxes, bags, gift wrap, things to be wrapped, gift tags . . . part of that busy, busy stuff I'm talking about! Gotta get it done, time's a tickin!

Not too much going on in the game room (or hubby's room) I'm using the fireman Santa stuff in this room again. I thought I would keep it real and not close the tv cabinet (it is really never closed unless I'm taking pictures in here) and I'm not about to try moving stuff off hubby's desk for photos!

Just a few of the fireman Santas

I put my three crochet stockings on the bookcase wall. My great-grandmother made these and I use them (somewhere) every year.

I swapped the lamp that usually sits on this table for hubby's lighted fire station.

I put the fireman tree right next to the table (so you can see it from downstairs - I'll show you in a minute!) This is at the top of the stairs. The door on the right, just past the tree, is the red/white/blue room. The door just to the left of that room (dead ahead of the stairs) is my sewing room and the twin room is on the left side.

It is so hard to get a good picture of Christmas trees. (for me anyway - I see some great ones, mine are not!) I took this one with the overhead lights off.

And this is what it looks like from the bottom of the stairs. That garland on the stairs needs help. I'm going to 'beef it up' next year. I would really like to add lights to it but I haven't figured out where to plug them in without having cords strung everywhere. Oh well, I'll worry about that tomorrow. (or next year)